Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by elNopalero:

This pours a dark brown in color with thin creamy foam. My pour is not as dark nor as opaque as I would have expected.There are aroma of cocoa and vanilla lending their complexity to the roasty notes. The flavor is dominated by roast notes with some sweet vanilla and dark cocoa. Rougher than I remember, and rougher around the edges than I enjoy. Would be interested in trying this with some more time on it.

More User Reviews:

Poured out of a bomber. Big thick tannish head that settles a bit but has great retention and great lacing. This beer is opaque black.

Big caramel aromas, slight toffee, some dark roasted coffee and some smokey malt. I couldnt keep my nose out of the glass, this beer just smells so damned good!

Incredibley smooth sweet toffee and caramel blended with bitter chocolate and a slightly spiced hop character to balance the heavy malt out to near perfect.

Nice moutfeel that really coats your taste buds with flavor. The drinkability of this beer is very good. So tastey that you just want to keep drinking it and you could because the 8.1 is nowhere to be found...until it creeps up on you.

Pours a deep dark black with a mocha colored creamy head,big hop presence in the aroma for the style zesty and nutty with a little moch a coffee thrown in very nice.Wow where to begin on the flavors in this bad boy very creamy feel in the mouth, drier than expected some unsweetened chocolate and nutty earthiness with a background of zesty,spicey hop.Alot going on and way to easy to drink for the alc% every flavor u could want in a beer with a smooth creamy mouthfeel,just awesome.

Very nice looking pour with a rich bronze head. The nose is lightly roasted . Great taste of dark chocolate, roasted malt and hints of vanilla bean. Smooth coffee notes with nice hoppiness showing its face on the finish. A very rich, smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Excellent stout.

Appearance  Black as a black bear with a monster, dark tan head that pitted slowly and laced my glass.

Smell  Amazing balance to the nose of this stout. The dark, roasted, burnt malt aroma is there along with a significant hoppy balance. Add to this the terrific molasses, dark maple, and cane sugar. To top things off, the dark, ripe fruits (mostly Bing cherries, tobacco, apricots, and browned bananas) add a level of complexity that is beyond reproach. Theres also a nice woody/sherry compliment.

Taste  The sherry and wood come out more in the taste but, incredibly, all of the aspects of the nose are here as well. This is a wonderfully balanced stout that doesnt rely on one, good, strong flavor. You could drink this with anything from fish, roast beef, tenderloin, Caesar salad (theres a nice bitterness in here that would go great with salads), or buzzard meat.

Mouthfeel  Creamy and smooth yet quite refreshing from the hop profile. This is a mouthful indeed.

Drinkability  Most 4.0+ stouts that Ive rated have one thing in common: They should be drank by themselves, alone to save the flavors. This here is your all purpose stout, perfect for any occasion.

Comments  I would have had to pretend to like it anyway since skyhand was sitting next to me and wouldnt shut up about how great it is, so it was a real bonus that I liked it so much.

Update  I partake of this regularly but thought it would be fun to age a bottle for a year, so I popped an 05 vintage in June 2006 just for the hell of it.

The alcohol and sharp sugars come out much bigger after a year in the cellar. I especially enjoyed the malty tang that almost seemed reminiscent of a barrel-aged stout. This beer is great as is or layed down for a year.

A- Black stout with little light coming through and 2 inch head that disppeared quickly.S-Very chocolate smell, some roast malt smell, not picking up a lot of fruit, mild vanilla. Just OK aroma.T-Roast grain, chocolate, some earthy wood flavors mixed in and a little bit smoky. There was a chalky taste that was not totally pleasurable on the backside. Pleny of hops in this one balancing out the sweet. Hope came thorugh as it warmed and it became more complex.M-Very creamy with good carbonationD-Dangerously drinkable. It gets better as it warms and begins to change the flavor making me want to drink more.

This is an exceptional stout! It poured a very very dark brown with a small brownish head that soon settled into a creamy layer of foam leaving slight lace down my glass. The smell was great with a great roasted maltiness and hints of carmel. The flavor was stunning and sweeter than I was expecting, but it all worked wonderfully. The roasted malt flavor created a great semi-sweet flavor and there was a slight smokiness in the finnish that really topped it off. The mouthfeel was smoothe and creamy and there was absoloutly no hint of the %8.10 abv. Another winner from Bear Republic!

Nearly opaque black with only bits of red at the edges. Single finger dark tan to light brown head on the pour. Lacing grips the glass as the head keeps hanging around.

Smell is hop dominated without much else. Mainly Cascade hops with their typical grapefruit citrus aroma. Maybe a hint of alcohol in the nose. I would like to have picked up on some typical stout aromas in this one. Without any form of toasted anything or coffee aromas I can't rate the smell high. Its just all hops.

What the aroma lacks the taste makes up for. This stout is hoppier than most but still has the typical stout flavors in the forefront. A good dose of strong dark toasted malts with bits of chocolate and an expresso finish. A hop bitterness picks up as well with some floral sweet flavors. This is a very nice tasting stout which is a bit different than most other stouts with its hop presence.

Mouthfeel is full bodied and thick. Coats the mouth well. Filling like a stout should be. Drinkability is good to boot, a good thick heavy feeling that probably wouldn't dissuade most from finishing the bomber.

A 22oz bottle from Kappy's in Malden, MA (great beer selection; try it). The beer was almost black with a thick mocha head. It had a sweet chocolate aroma, but tasted more dark chocolate and espresso. Very smooth, a drinkable beer. I'd buy this again.

A - Slight hiss as the cap is removed. Pours black with three fingers of brown head. Head is pillowy and has good retention.

S - A mix of sweet and earthy roasted malts. Subdued but good.

T - Roasted malts up front with a nice earthiness. No real sweetness in the taste. Some dark bittersweet chocolate and ome slightly sour notes as well. Hints of dark fruit and a slight alcohol presence.

M - Mouthfeel is a bit thin for my liking, but not watery. The earthiness lingers on the tongue for quite awhile and is a bit drying.

O - Nice to see a stout like this that isn't sweet, but the intense earthiness reduces the enjoyment just a bit.

Beautiful dark color, with a small chocolate type head. The aroma was slightly malty, little bit mocahish, but weaker than you would expect.The first sip was thick and syrupy, like a porter, there was a slight sweetness that seemed to expand and hang around ,
theaftertaste was thick and curranty almost medicinal. Nice bold Brussels lace. Everything was fine except the aftertaste. Its ok but there are better out there. Mackerson is smoother and not quite as bitter

22 oz bottle. Pours a nearly opaque black (there's some ruby highlights). It has a creamy light brown head that goes to a thin film that leaves some lacing. The second half pour leaves some sediment.

The aroma is some roasted malts, figs (and dark fruits), a little anise, and a some sweet cream oakiness.

The flavor is more of the same - roasted chocolate, figs, anise, and sweet oak with a nice lightly bitter dry finish. The alcohol is well hidden. There are some sweet and sour notes that keep it from being truly excellent. It is medium to thin bodied, a little low on the carbonation and a little watery at times.

Overall, a good imp stout. It reminded me of Left Hands Oak-Aged, but wasn't quite as good.